The One Recipe Giada De Laurentiis Wishes We All Forgot

Giada De Laurentiis has been a queen of the culinary scene for quite some time now and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn't heard of her these days. The Italian chef has had a home on Food Network ever since her first show, Everyday Italian, premiered in 2005, making her one of the longest-running chefs on the network (per Food Network). By all appearances, and judging by her impressive net worth, it seems De Laurentiis really has her act together.

But, there are some odd things we all just ignore about Giada De Laurentiis, like her rumored affairs, her resentment towards touchy-touchy fans, and her infamous on-set habit. Plus, as it turns out, not all of her recipes even taste good. Surprising – we know. With nine cookbooks full of inspiring recipes on her Giada De Laurentiis website and hoards more on her lifestyle site Giadzy, you'd think anything food-related this star pens would be pretty much foolproof. But, De Laurentiis has had at least one major flop in her time and of all the places for one of her recipes to fail, it happened on national television. The unforgettably embarrassing moment occurred on The Ellen Show in 2017 (per Tasting Table) and we're willing to bet De Laurentiis wishes it could be scrubbed from our memories forever. Yet, here we are, ready to relive it all over again with you.

In Giada De Laurentiis' fateful segment on Ellen, the chef showed Ellen DeGeneres and guest Nicole Kidman how to make a few of her signature dishes, including a clementine and fennel focaccia (via YouTube). Focaccia is an Italian flatbread that can be garnished with any variety of toppings, according to Simple Italian Cooking. Giada's citrusy flatbread certainly looked tasty enough but things went downhill fast once DeGeneres and Kidman took a taste. Ellen immediately triggered laughter from the audience when it seemed her teeth were barely strong enough to chew the focaccia and she unconvincingly remarked, "That sure is good..." But, Nicole Kidman wasn't quite as kind. The A-lister took a laborious bite and noted, "It's a little tough... I know you're not meant to criticize but it's a little tough." Then, Kidman delivered the moment of ultimate cringe by spitting out Giada De Laurentiis' focaccia.

We all blushed on De Laurentiis' behalf at Kidman's rejection, but the chef didn't take the insult sitting down. On the show, Giada came to her focaccia's defense by reminding Kidman, "Nicole, it's been sitting there for like five hours!" It's possible this debacle really might have just been a case of poor timing – on Food Network's website, Giada's infamous focaccia recipe has received seven five-star reviews. So, if you're curious, and you think your bite is up to the challenge, we suggest you give Giada De Laurentiis' focaccia a try and judge for yourself.